Description: The title of this David Cronenberg sci-fi
horror film refers to a group of people who have telekinetic
powers that allow... them to read minds and give them the
ability to make other people's heads explode. The children
of a group of women who took an experimental tranquilizer
during their pregnancies, the scanners are now adults and
have become outcasts from society. But Darryl (Michael
Ironside) decides to create an army of scanners to take over
the world. The only person who can stop him is his brother
Cameron (Stephen Lack), who wants to forget that he was ever
a scanner. Winner of the International Fantasy Film Award at
the 1983 Fantasporto Film Festival, Scanners was followed by
a pair of sequels, neither of which involved Cronenberg.

~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide.

The Film:

This looks less like Cronenberg's popular mid-'70s exploiters (Rabid,
Shivers) than one of his early experimental films remade on a higher
budget, with a small group of 'scanners' (warrior-telepaths) fighting
off a sinister mind-war army that is backed, indirectly, by industry and
the state. Part conspiracy thriller, part political tract, it is Cronenberg's most coherent movie to date, drawing a dark (but bland)
world in which corporate executives engineer human conception to produce
ever more powerful mental samurai. And he punctuates it with spectacular
set piece confrontations which really do dramatise the abstract,
ingenious premise. As always, there's a nagging feeling that the script
is not quite perfectly realised on screen, but Patrick McGoohan's
bizarre cameo performance, and the extraordinary moral and sexual
ambiguity of the final scanning contest, more than make up for it.

In a stalwart example of camp, early in Scanners, a man addresses a room
of people — it is a conference, of sorts. He is a scanner, and intends
to display his ability to the group. A man volunteers, sits beside the
speaker, and is soon scanned (the process involves, in the scanner,
tightening every muscle, clenching teeth, and glaring evilly).
Unbeknownst to the speaker, the volunteer is a renegade scanner, and
more powerful. The two become awkwardly tense, convulse a bit, and the
speaker’s head explodes — it is a perfect culmination for the building
action.

“Scanning” involves telepathy although, exampled here, the process
causes harm in the scanned. In other hands this ability may have been
depicted in a humorous or respected manner (What Women Want) — it would
be a talent, whereas here it is a handicap as well as skill. The
conflict arises between two groups of scanners: one set for world
domination, the other set to stop them

Image : NOTE:The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.

The best I can say for
Scanners
on
Blu-ray
is that it looks better than SD. Some colors are bright - it
is clean and there is some infrequent depth on the
single-layered 1080P transfer. There is a green hue over
much of the image and background grain can be downright
blotchy. I may be hyper-critical as it did give me the best
presentation of the film I've yet seen - but the
Blu-ray
leaves some room for improvement. Detail has impressive
moments in Scanner's close-ups and contrast wavers
from modest to strong - dependant on the scene. The effects
aren't overly-transparent through the higher resolution and
remain as gruesome as ever. As a bare-bones quickie
Blu-ray
- it's visually 'okay' for a late night viewing.

The
Criterion is advertised as being a new, restored 2K digital
film transfer, supervised by director David Cronenberg. The
Koch colors appear boosted and it looks very green beside
the darker US rendering and it is, occasionally, out of
ratio with wider, fatter faces. The 1.78:1, 1080P, Criterion
is transferred to a dual-layered disc with a very high
bitrate. It looks super with strong earth tones and subdued,
but richer, colors. Flesh tones are much more realistic and
the visuals are tighter with more detail. Contrast is
another area of advancement and there is no noise and has
some depth. To me, this darker appearance looks far more
film-like but I can't speak to it being theatrically
accurate.

Okay, so
we added the Second Sight
Blu-ray
captures - after a lot of email, some of it,
complaining about the Criterion appearance not being
theatrically accurate. The UK 1080P matches closer to the
German transfer colors but doesn't have the 'ratio'
anomalies. The UK transfer has a high bitrate and looks
quite good 'in-motion'. It's good to compare as fans have a
distinct option now of whihc they feel is the one they want
to own. One difference is that the 1.78:1 Criterion shows
more information at the bottom of the frame - but less ta
the top than the Second Sight - which is also 1.78:!!

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

1)

Koch Media
- Region 'B' -
Blu-ray - TOP

2)
Criterion - Region
'A' -
Blu-ray

- MIDDLE

3)
Second Sight - Region
'B' -
Blu-ray
- BOTTOM

1)

Koch Media
- Region 'B' -
Blu-ray - TOP

2)
Criterion - Region
'A' -
Blu-ray

- MIDDLE

3)
Second Sight - Region
'B' -
Blu-ray
- BOTTOM

1)

Koch Media
- Region 'B' -
Blu-ray - TOP

2)
Criterion - Region
'A' -
Blu-ray

- MIDDLE

3)
Second Sight - Region
'B' -
Blu-ray
- BOTTOM

1)

Koch Media
- Region 'B' -
Blu-ray - TOP

2)
Criterion - Region
'A' -
Blu-ray

- MIDDLE

3)
Second Sight - Region
'B' -
Blu-ray
- BOTTOM

1)

Koch Media
- Region 'B' -
Blu-ray - TOP

2)
Criterion - Region
'A' -
Blu-ray

- MIDDLE

3)
Second Sight - Region
'B' -
Blu-ray
- BOTTOM

1)

Koch Media
- Region 'B' -
Blu-ray - TOP

2)
Criterion - Region
'A' -
Blu-ray

- MIDDLE

3)
Second Sight - Region
'B' -
Blu-ray
- BOTTOM

1)

Koch Media
- Region 'B' -
Blu-ray - TOP

2)
Criterion - Region
'A' -
Blu-ray

- MIDDLE

3)
Second Sight - Region
'B' -
Blu-ray
- BOTTOM

1)

Koch Media
- Region 'B' -
Blu-ray - TOP

2)
Criterion - Region
'A' -
Blu-ray

- MIDDLE

3)
Second Sight - Region
'B' -
Blu-ray
- BOTTOM

1)

Koch Media
- Region 'B' -
Blu-ray - TOP

2)
Criterion - Region
'A' -
Blu-ray

- MIDDLE

3)
Second Sight - Region
'B' -
Blu-ray
- BOTTOM

1)

Koch Media
- Region 'B' -
Blu-ray - TOP

2)
Criterion - Region
'A' -
Blu-ray

- MIDDLE

3)
Second Sight - Region
'B' -
Blu-ray
- BOTTOM

1)

Koch Media
- Region 'B' -
Blu-ray - TOP

2)
Criterion - Region
'A' -
Blu-ray

- MIDDLE

3)
Second Sight - Region
'B' -
Blu-ray
- BOTTOM

1)

Koch Media
- Region 'B' -
Blu-ray - TOP

2)
Criterion - Region
'A' -
Blu-ray

- MIDDLE

3)
Second Sight - Region
'B' -
Blu-ray
- BOTTOM

Audio :

Koch have
provided lossless tracks in both original English and a German DUB via
DTS-HD Master 5.1 bump at around 1600 kbps. The intense and suspenseful score
is by Howard Shore who has an impressive resume of work behind him.
There is some less-overwhelming depth and clean high end. There are no
subtitles and m

No bump, Criterion
transfer the film's audio to an authentic linear PCM mono track. It
sounds flat but there is depth in the film's many effects. Howard
Shore's score sounds eerie and haunting via the lossless. There are
optional English subtitle sand the disc is region 'A'-locked.

Second Sight give
the option of a, similar-sounding to the Criterion, linear PCM track
(but in 2.0 channel stereo) but also offer a DTS-HD Master 5.0 surround
at 1819 kbps. I did notice some extra depth and a few adroit separations
but they weren't dynamically crisp but again, it is nice for fans to
have the option. The Second Sight also offers optional English subtitles
and their disc is region 'B'-locked.

Extras :

No extras at all

.
They intended some but the Blu-ray authoring team's heads all blew off.

Criterion stack
their release with some keen extras. The “Scanners” Way is a new,
23-minute, documentary by Michael Lennick, a Toronto-based filmmaker, on
the film’s 'pre-digital' special effects, featuring interviews with
several of David Cronenberg’s collaborators. Mental Saboteur is a new
20-minute interview with actor Michael Ironside who discusses
Scanners
and his extensive career in both Canada and Hollywood. The Ephemerol
Diaries, is a 15-minute 2012 interview with actor and artist Stephen
Lack who discusses how he became involved with Scanners and his notable
career as a visual artists. There is a 10-minute excerpt from a March
10th, 1981 interview with Cronenberg on the CBC’s The Bob McLean Show.
They talk about Scanners and some of his earlier films. We get a
new, restored 2K digital transfer of Stereo (1969), David
Cronenberg’s first feature film. It is about medical experiments and
telepathy and is a clear pre-cursor to Scanners. The 65-minute
film stars Ronald Mlodzik who would go ion to appear in Cronenberg's
Crimes of the Future (1970), Shivers (1975) and Rabid
(1977). There is also a trailer and 3 radio spots. The package contains
a liner notes booklet with an essay by critic Kim Newman and the
dual-layered set includes 2 DVDs of the feature with all the extras of
the Blu-ray.

Second Sight are
very impressive with their extras - all original (I believe) done
in-house. There are an hour+ worth of 5 video interview pieces including
one with star Stephen Lack entitles 'My Art Keeps Me Sane',
another interview with Cinematographer Mark Irwin called 'The Eye of
Scanners' lasting 1/4 of an hour, an interview with Executive
Producer Pierre David - The Chaos of Scanners and a fourth with
Makeup Effects Artist Stephen Dupuis entitled Exploding Brains &
Popping Veins. There is a short last one with actor Lawrence Dane
called "Bad Guy Dane". Great stuff from the UK production
company!

Koch Media
- Region 'B' -
Blu-ray

Criterion - Region
'A' -
Blu-ray

Second Sight - Region
'B' -
Blu-ray

BOTTOM LINE: There is a campy edge to Cronenberg's Scanners. From that
angle - I like it. In fact there are plenty of positives -
including a very deliberate build with enough unknowns to
keep you attentive. The
Blu-ray is second tier but probably won't be bested anytime soon. Fans may
wish to pick it up.

Three years later and Criterion's package is a massive
improvement over the Koch - in every area. The supplements
are great and the supervised transfer

seems far more in-line with the original release. The
director's fanbase should be all over this
Blu-ray. Recommended!

Thanks for the
notifications about this UK
Blu-ray
release. It obviously got by me - and its a great 1080P
edition! Those voicing displeasure with the Criterion (and
the Koch Media) have the option of picking up the Second
Sight! We can endorse that it is a magnificent package!

Gary Tooze

June 30th, 2011

June 27th 2014

July 18th, 2014

Also available in a 'Limited
Edition' Steelbook:

About the Reviewer:
Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film
since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was
around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my
horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out
new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500
DVDs and have reviewed over 3500 myself. I appreciate my
discussion Listserv for furthering my film
education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver.
Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our
Amazon links.

Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who
focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I
find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction.